"We’ve reassessed our needs and will be heading in a different direction."

"We’ve opted to offer this position to an internal candidate."

Rejection couched in a clichéd phrase can still be blindsiding. Just ask one of my clients, a senior HR professional in the financial services industry, who endured a grueling series of interviews for a position at that he really wanted. The process left him exhausted but hopeful. He’d prepared thoroughly and felt he did well in each of four sets of interviews. His pitch was compelling. He knew the company’s business inside and out and even impressed one interviewer with his knowledge about a new talent acquisition initiative that the employer had just announced the day before. He had rock solid answers to several tricky behavioral event questions.

Then the call came from the recruiter. He didn’t get the job. “I was in a funk about the news,” he said. “It stopped me dead in my tracks and I gave up my job search for weeks. Even when I resumed it, I felt a little depleted… like the wind had been taken out of my sails.”

Being rejected after an extensive interview process can be rough, and when painful enough, can negatively impact the momentum of your transition process. That, in turn, can cause your search to become more protracted, which can eat away at your confidence. And there you go, spiraling into a rabbit hole of job search negativity and hopelessness.

But despite the piercing pain of rejection, my client's job search did not need to be so seriously derailed. While he eventually moved on to greener pastures, he lost a lot of time licking his wounds. Finding the resilience to move forward in a job search may be more accessible than you think. By adopting these six strategies, you can keep plugging away when a job search of minimal possible duration is your goal.

1. Have five balls in the air at all times.

Don’t let yourself become so fixated on one job prospect that you’re crushed when it doesn’t work out. Think volume. In your search, you should be seriously talking to five different employers at one time, applying to positions and networking strategically within those organizations. If bad news comes along about one, turn up the heat on the others and replace the rejecting employer with a new prospect. By incorporating volume into your process, you can’t become overly fixated on one possibility.

2. Reflect and improve.

Remember Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Most people adopt an interviewing style and stick with it even if it’s not that effective. After an interview, think about what went well, what didn’t go well and why. Seek feedback when possible. Write these reflections down and build on them each time you interview through an improved performance. Share them with a friend, colleague or recruiter and ask them to practice with you in the areas where you felt weak.

3. Do not personalize.

One surefire way to get caught up in negativity is to personalize your rejection. You may imagine reasons like, "One of the interviewers didn’t like me" or "They thought the company wasn’t my first choice" or "He thought I was too old or not old enough." Don’t project thoughts, opinions or impressions onto the employer that they may not even have. Ironically, employment rejection is usually not about you! Accept that a rational business reason was likely the basis for your rejection, as hard as this may be.

4. Allow yourself a limited amount of time to grieve.

Give yourself 24-48 hours to be down about the news and dwell in your own disappointment, then move on with your other employment prospects (See No. 1 above). In what other scenarios have you had resilience? Think about how you’ve summoned grit and strength before and tap into those reserves. They haven’t gone anywhere.

5. Perform an act of professional generosity.

After a post-interview rejection, the impulse that you’re least likely to feel is kindness and generosity. Ironically, though, this is when doing something professionally generous for someone else is exactly what you need. Make that helpful introduction for a colleague that you’ve been meaning to get to. Have a mentoring conversation with a junior staff member. Refer someone for an opportunity who needs one. Taking the initiative to assist someone with their career while you’re still healing from the sting of rejection can take you out of your own disappointment and make you feel empowered, competent and confident.

6. Take a walk.

Nature can have therapeutic benefits on mood, creativity and focus. When you’re in job search mode (and particularly after rejection), get outside each day even if only for a walk in an urban park. Nature inspires awe and puts things in perspective.